An investigation of the extortion of trash haulers has resulted in charges against 32 people in the New York area, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Thirty of the suspects were arrested Wednesday, and two others were expected to surrender later in the week, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York said in a press release.

Suspected members or associates from three different organized crime families in the New York area were among the arrested, the statement said.

The main indictment alleges 12 members of "an organized criminal enterprise" were connected to a waste disposal business that was involved with loansharking, mail and wire fraud, extortion and stolen property offenses. These 12 were charged with racketeering conspiracy charges.

Among the dozen is Carmine Franco, also known as "Papa Smurf" and "Uncle Sonny," who authorities also accuse of extortion and the interstate transportation of stolen property. The attorney's office said 77-year-old Franco is an associate of the Genovese crime family.

Seventeen others were charged with individual acts of extortion, loansharking and other crimes, the attorney's office said.

Court documents claim the suspects controlled several waste disposal businesses, including those based in New York's Westchester, Rockland and Nassau counties, and in New Jersey's Bergen and Passaic counties. The men allegedly threatened the businesses by demanding extortion payments for protection and telling them which trash pick-up stops they could use, the attorney's office said. Officials say many of the charged had avoided having any sort of official connection to the trash collection businesses they controlled.

"...While these accused mobsters may have hidden themselves behind seemingly legitimate owners of waste disposal businesses, law enforcement was able to pierce that veil through its painstaking, multi-year investigation," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

"In addition to the violence that often accompanies their schemes, the economic impact amounts to a mob tax on goods and services," George C. Venizelos, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI's New York office, said in a statement.

The thirty arrested suspects, who are all residents of either New York or New Jersey, were expected to appear and be arraigned in a Manhattan federal court Wednesday.

The Genovese, Gambino and Luchese organized crime families have a long history of extorting trash collection companies, The Associated Press reported.

From the archives, Jan. 2011: More than 120 alleged mobsters arrested on East Coast

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- Two teenagers charged in connection with the death of a five-year-old New York girl whose body was dumped in a trash can were expected to make their first court appearance since their arrests.

Five-year-old Isabella Tennant was found dead after going missing from her home in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Authorities said 16-year-old John Freeman and 18-year-old Tyler Best were scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Niagara Falls City Court.  An autopsy of the body of Isabella Tennant was also scheduled.

The arrests came after Best went to police Monday morning and led them to a garbage can containing a trash bag holding Isabella's body. Best told them he had helped the younger teen dispose of the body after Freeman killed her, police said.

'Bare hands'
Isabella's family called police Monday morning to say she was missing from her great-grandmother's Niagara Falls home, where she'd been staying overnight.

“The great grandmother, Sharon Lascelle, said she went to bed just after 11:00 p.m. and Isabella was playing with" the 16-year-old, according to a press release issued to NBC station WGRZ by the Niagara Falls Police Department.

“At this time we believe Freeman killed Isabella with his bare hands (no weapons involved) and that Best was only involved after she was deceased and assisted with moving her remains,” it said.

Freeman "was described by family members of the victim as a ‘close’ and ‘trusted’ family friend. They also said it was also not uncommon for him to be in the home and around Isabella unsupervised. Best and Freeman are described as close friends,” it added.

Read more news from NBC station WGRZ

Police charged Freeman as an adult with second-degree murder.  

Best is charged with tampering with evidence. Best and Freeman were in custody and couldn't be reached for comment. 

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Niagara Falls Chief Detective William Thompson said there were signs of injuries but no indication of sexual abuse.

"It's a terrible crime. It tears at your heart," Thompson said.

Of Best going to police, Thompson said, "I imagine it was his conscience."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Isaac nears hurricane strength and heads for New Orleans
• Israel court says US activist not unlawfully killed
• Jury seated for Amish beard-cutting trial
• Student shot at Md. high school on first day of class
• Video: Grizzly kills hiker in Alaska

Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

A teacher’s assistant from California faces child endangerment charges after her 12-year-old daughter was found naked and rummaging through trash cans for food, officials said.

Police were called on Thursday after a local resident saw a girl walking in Temecula, south-east of Los Angeles, wearing no clothes and eating food out of trash cans.

Tracy Betts, 40, a teaching assistant at nearby Vail Elementary, was arrested at the school on suspicion of felony child endangerment.

NBC Los Angeles: Naked Girl Found in Temecula, Mom Charged

A report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise named the resident who alerted police as Dominique Prado, who had been outside pulling weeds from the yard with her husband when she saw the girl rooting through a neighbor’s trash can.

The girl completely naked, without even shoes on her feet, and trying to cover herself with a car floor mat, the newspaper said.

Prado told the newspaper that the girl, who was holding a small piece of bread in her hands, ran around the corner and out of sight.

Prado called 911, and police searched the neighborhood. Prado and her husband found the girl in a BMW parked on their street just around the corner, the newspaper said.

A press release from Riverside Sheriff's office said the girl was taken into protective custody and received unspecified treatment at a hospital.

Jason Kandel, NBC Los Angeles and msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.